Biggy Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Claying is the process of removing contaminants that are on your paint surface. It should be done after you have washed your car, before polishing or waxing. Using clay is necessary to remove dirt that is trapped in the paint finish. Waxing without claying results in the trapping and sealing of this dirt on to the paint surface. It is not necessary to clay your car after every single wash. A rough feeling car surface indicates paint contamination. There are two ways to get rid of this- by either using a polishing compound or using a clay bar. Using a polishing compound removes a lot of paint material in the process, therefore using a clay bar is recommended. Why use a Clay bar Clay bars have the ability to trap tiny debris. An appropriate lubricant is used together with the clay bar prevents abrasion of the paint surface. Any particle that protrudes from the top coat surfaced will be caught by the clay bar. The clay lubricant then prevents the debris from scratching the paint coat. After this process, the paint will feel smooth and shine brilliantly. Debris sits ontop of the paint While clay is common used for other purposes, it is relatively new in the car detailing market. Clay bars are actually made of fine clay particles in a soft and malleable medium which allows the bar to be kneaded. Clay makers add colours to make it more creative or as a label for differing strengths and coarseness. Clay "feels like" and "looks like" plasticine How to use a clay bar The entire clay bar should not be used at a single time to prevent contamination. One way to prevent this would be cutting the bar equal pieces, kept in seperate clean bags for future use. Each piece can be used at least twice, depending on the amount of dirt present on your car. Do not exceed the recommended amount of times as a dirty clay bar can do more harm to your car's paintwork. Before discarding however, use it to clay the car rims. Simple steps for using a Clay bar 1. Use soap and water to wash the car. Do not dry the car yet. 2. Use a quick detailer to moisten the clay and keep the bodywork 'wet'. 3. Roll the clay bar into a ball then flatten it so that it fits nicely in your palm. 4. Hold the clay bar on one hand, and the detailer in the other. Spread the detailer on the car,move the clay back and forth with medium pressure. Place more detailer if the surface begins to dry up as clay is sticky and cannot be used dry. 5. Check the clay bar frequently for hard particles and remove them. Occassionally knead and re-form the bar so that the entire clay is evenly used. Should you drop your bar on the ground, discard it. 6. Check the areas you have clayed by running your hand over it. It should feel smooth. When the entire car is completely clayed, wash the car with shampoo. If the clay can still be used, keep it in a clean plastic bag. Remember it should be kept damp. 7. Dry the car completely. Your car is now clayed. There should be no more surface contaminants on your paintwork if the car looks shiny and feels smooth. You can now proceed with waxing to seal in the gloss. The following conditions below indicate other contaminants that only can be removed via polishing 1. Random, isolated scratches 2. Cobweb-effect 3. Buffer Swirl 4. Oxidation 5. Pore imbedding stains 6. Chemical etching 7. Acid rain spots 8. Etching from bird droppings A good started kit would be http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/detailing-cl...t/prod_226.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narcotix Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Great guide mate ... I purchased the quick detailer you mentioned a few months ago but haven't used it yet as I wasn't 100% sure on what to do ... I think I might give it a try this weekend on a small area at first before I go for the more visible areas ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Good write up - very similar to one I read on DetailingWorld some years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggy Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 I use a bit of diluted last touch as qd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrobinson2 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 excellent mate, was going to research this this morning, now i dont have to. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggy Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Glad to be of help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 2 ways, use a polishing compound or clay? dont you mean clay then polish. If you put a polish pad to an unprep'd surface, all your going to do is inflict alot more than you correct. All it will do is pull up the contaminents, tar, fallout etc onto the pad, meaning you will pull the particles around the paintworks surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bradders Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Great guide mate ... I purchased the quick detailer you mentioned a few months ago but haven't used it yet as I wasn't 100% sure on what to do ... I think I might give it a try this weekend on a small area at first before I go for the more visible areas ... You'll never know how clean a car can be until you clay it. I was hooked immediately. The feel of the paintwork after is literally like glass. Great guide. Good pics too. Speak a thousand words and all that. Bradders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggy Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Yeah that's worded badly ain't it, although it does say a flatbed is recommended, should really expand on that part shouldn't I lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Good guide other than that Only other thing id add is, WARNING: make sure the section of paintwork you are working on it lubricated at all times to avoid marring the paintwork. Clay is basically a bar or clay (obviously) with tons of abbrasives added. So there are different abbrasiveness levels. Mild - Aggressive. If using for the first time, I'd reccommend using a very mild clay, as if you go with a very aggresive clay you will generally require finishing polish afterwards (via machine) to refine your paintwork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 i used the megs clay and QD on my zed, was really pleased. my clay is about ready to throw out now, so i actually bought some more megs clay by itself, but have bought the dodo Clay lube instead as i like all their other products. will be trying it out this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tez162003 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 ideally 1 clay bar = 1 car, once. But i find if the car you just clayed is fairly contaminent free i will use the clay bar again for another car or 1/2 car etc (but only if im about to machine polish it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 ideally 1 clay bar = 1 car, once. But i find if the car you just clayed is fairly contaminent free i will use the clay bar again for another car or 1/2 car etc (but only if im about to machine polish it) i read you can use them for longer. i think i clayed my car about 8 times with the same bar, and only changed when it started to look grubby, just fold in half all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggy Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Yeah just break the bar up into 2 or 3 pieces, I'm waiting to try out my supernatural clay bar, it's meant to be the dogs dangalies lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Yeah just break the bar up into 2 or 3 pieces, I'm waiting to try out my supernatural clay bar, it's meant to be the dogs dangalies lol +1 break up the bar and put the bits into freezer bags. By breaking it up, you use the right amount, but also if you drop it, you havent dropped a load of clay that you have to throw away! A bar of Supernatural will do a car 3 times at least, its great stuff, I used it on mine last time around. I find it milder than Megs normal clay, that or Born Slippy is a better lubricant than Megs QD. Either way DD combo is less agressive than Megs combo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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